Self-catering holiday cottages in Durham and Pennines.
DURHAM
The beautiful 1000 year-old city of provides you with a perfect
combination of city and countryside, located as it is, near gorgeous
beaches, Hadrian’s Wall Country and the undulating Cheviot Hills.
Should you select one of the vacation lets in the historic centre
itself, you will enjoy gentile surroundings and laid-back atmosphere
not often experienced during city breaks. In the summer months, the
cobbled Market Place buzzes with vitality, street entertainment and
prize-winning floral displays. The Farmers Market provides an
opportunity to stock up on juicy local produce for some good home-
cooking back at your holiday home. Many of the holiday homes in
Durham can accommodate groups of 8 or more and there is a wide range
of property accessible for disabled vistors. There are some beautiful
oak-beamed cottages to let near the River Wear, where you can take a
riverboat cruise or enjoy a picnic on the bank while watching the
rowers from Durham University practice their technique.
Durham Cathedral
Whether you’re renting a vacation home in central Durham or based in
rural cottage, you should see Durham Cathedral, the city’s most
famous site and one of the best examples of cathedral building in the
country. It is notable for its innovatory Gothic style - all pointed
arches, corrugated vaults and soaring buttresses. It was erected
swiftly beginning in 995 by Lindisfarne monks who had fled their
island home when the Danish Vikings came calling. The interior has a
cohesive style not often seen in the medieval period.
Crook Hall
A short stroll from many 5 star holiday homes in Durham’s bustling
centre, is the 13th century Grade I listed Crook Hall, a highly
unusual union of mediaeval, Jacobean and Georgian architecture on the
edge of the glorious gardens. Refuel in the tearoom with the lovely
terrace or enjoy the grand dining room with its Georgian fireplace.
North of England Open Air Museum
The area around Durham is rightly popular with families, and there
are endless days out that children of all ages will love. If you are
looking for a holiday cottage for a family, you will find many that
are child-friendly and well equipped with cots, high chairs and small
beds. Just 12 miles north of Durham is the that nestles in over
300 acres of countryside. You can take an old tram around the
authentic reconstruction of an Edwardian north-eastern market town,
visit a hundred-year old colliery with pit cottages where you can
learn how miners and their families lived, and buy your ticket in an
Edwardian railway station. There is also an old home farm.
North Pennines
The dazzling landscape of the North Pennines contains plenty of self-
catering cottages that ooze character – many with real log fires.
Situated amongst beautiful meadowland, rivers, heather-strewn moors
and peat bogs are cottages with real old world allure and spectacular
views. Stay in a lodge in a secluded forest that is home to
increasingly unseen wildlife. Four-fifths of England’s red squirrel
population is found here as are endangered otters and species of rare
alpine plants. Or you might want to be nearer village life. Rent a
honey-stoned cottage in the village of Blanchland, with an Italian-
inspired piazza that has appeared in many period dramas. Or stay in
Allenheads, England’s highest village with a fascinating lead mining
past that you can read about in the heritage centre. The North
Pennines has been named an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
since 1988, and is also a UNESCO Global and European and Global
Geopark that actively promotes environmentally aware tourism. There
is an increasing range of eco-friendly cottages, equipped with solar
panels and wind generators so you can keep your holiday green.
High Force Waterfall
The High Force Waterfall is a truly remarkable spectacle easily
reached from your holiday cottage in County Durham. At little more
than a whisper, the falls starts amongst the heights of the North
Pennines. As you walk through the heather-capped peaks of Forest -in-
Teesdale there is a barely audible trickle of a stream, the
beginnings of the River Tees. When you snake along the meandering
path with its ever-changing view, the water gets progressively
louder, before it rises to a bellowing roar. It is a stirring sight –
the river plummets the 20 metre drop over a precipice of igneous
rock, the Whin Sill, into the dark basin below. The falls used to
freeze into intricate ice formations but this is rare nowadays. If
you’re lucky you’ll see the breathtaking sight of the force of the
deluge forming a rainbow in the sunshine. The painter JMW Turner was
inspired to draw High Force in 1816.
|
